What free things are you doing these school holidays?

[MrsFabuloso]

We have a pretty limited budget for the rest of these school holidays (10 days left until school goes back). We went to Luna Park, which was awesome, and VERY expensive! We have also been to the cinema to see Box Trolls and did the whole pop corn and ice creams thing, which the kids loved. But now we are going to be limited in what else we can do, and would rather not do anything else too costly!
So what creative things have you done, where have you been that is fun and not expensive, or better yet, free!

[Ca Plane Pour Moi]

Bike ride, picnic, then ride home.
Local parks
Library trips (they have a scheme here where you read 6 books over 6 weeks and get a medal at the end, you have to talk about the books when you return them but stickers/activities every visit)
Making a tent/den in the garden
Buy tennis racquets and balls, then spend time in the park
Hiking - Liebling was able to go for a 6km hike from age 5, with snacks and drinks on the way and the promise of a bus ride home at the end
Go to the beach, pick up some stones, and paint them at home
Paper mache models (I detest this option, but you may not)
Heritage days out - OK they cost, but going around old buildings with mediaeval fighting displays keeps most people happy
Late night double-feature movies - do this at home, home-made popcorn etc - then get a lie-in the next day, double bonus

Of course, the usual board games, hide and seek, reading, writing short stories, problem solving and jigsaws also get used a lot.

[~clover~]

Camping. Under $12 entry fee for national parks or $5 or $10 a night in some places. Some are free.
You may, or may not get toilets & bins, but the experience is worth it

[kateo]

Invade a park playground you haven't been to before

Visit friends
Cook biccies
Beach
Lake
Camp in back paddock
Camp in front paddock
Walk in the bush and have a picnic
Walk the dog/s
Go to botanic gardens

Low cost
Buy weird stuff from recycle and take it apart
Go to a workshop and get wood scraps. Buy some nails, build and paint
Construct with big boxes (beg from furniture/whitegood stores)
Go to a "pick your own" farm
Plant a vege garden

[Lenny]

We are doing everything for free. I very rarely use the school holidays to do awesome stuff. I just want to give them a chance to rediscover old toys, raid the pantry, play in the street with the neighbours ( yes, I am very lucky). And also I don't want them to expect that the holidays are for mum to entertain them!
We like bike trails, driving to a new park with different slides etc.. Swimming (which is free with our lessons at the YMCA). Make your own pizza and then go on a picnic. Decorating biscuits.
I made glue and tried to get them to do papier mâché, but that ended up with gloopy glue everywhere and me finishing it off because ds2 has limited patience.
We have rented a kids DVD from the library - free. And lots of books and even some read a long books with cd.
We made some homemade clay ( which didn't work very well) but we have some little clay things which are dry now but need painting.

[MrsFabuloso]

Some great ideas, thanks everyone!

We have done some of the more obvious things- parks, bike riding, watching movies at home (with pop corn and milkshakes), crafty stuff, play dough making and playing, cooking, visiting family. We also went to the farmers markets and watched some men fishing and the kids saw their first live fish caught! We saw a free live native animal show at the local shopping centre this morning.

We don't have much camping gear, so that's out (ie, we have a 4 man tent for the 5 of us, one sleeping bag, two camping chairs and one camp bed, lol). I hope to accumulate more, because it's an awesome thing to do when money is tight. It's awesome to do anytime!! We have no dog, so no dog walking to do. We will go to the beach, but it's been raining the past few days. Next week is supposed to be warmer, we also hope to go bush walking. We have cousins coming to stay next week for a couple of days, so that will be fun! I brought some new crafty stuff, so there will be more crafting and creating, as well as cooking. We have written and posted letters to friends. We have only recently moved to the area, so are a bit short on good friends for play dates yet.

I looked into going to a pick your own farm, but there aren't any that are very close to us. The nearest one I could find was about 1 1/2 hrs drive away.

I will have to take the kids to the local library. I haven't looked into what sort of kid friendly things are on there! I also think I have seen things on at the YMCA which I will ahve to look into. The wood working is a great idea, my DS's will LOVE that!! I will have to look into it.

Keep the ideas coming!

[~clover~]

Maybe work on the camping thing for Christmas. All my camping gear is cheap. From kmart etc. when I have extra money I go for better quality. So kids camp stretchers are good, the rest could use an upgrade but cheap & nasty can get you by until the better stuff comes along

[AnyDream]

We've got a Nature Play program happening in SA - there are heaps of events around the play encouraging kids to do open-ended play in natural environments. It's a really lovely time of year so I'm looking forward to this.

We're also going to do some planting in the garden. Ok, not completely FREE, because of the garden supplies - but we've got things like seeds we've saved and pots we're re-using, so v. low cost. We're also doing a cubby-makeover, which (except for the paint) is an upcycling/recycling project, so there may be a bit of op-shopping and craft involved.

I'm overdue for a visit to the seaside, so we'll pick a nice day and head to the beach. Plenty to do there, happy to shout a round of hot chips then head home.

I also have a school holidays tub that I put activity/craft things into as I find them (cheap) throughout the year. At the moment it's got some beading, some self-drying clay, an origami kit, and a cardboard fairy house. I only dip into this when DD's showing signs of needing something structured to do, as I would prefer them to be rambling around doing open-ended and unstructured things.

[Artechim]

We are away for the first week, but in the second week I foresee a lot of bush walks and trips to the river. It is a bit cold for swimming yet but they paddle and collect rocks and if I take the gas cooker and a few sausages we can stay there for hours.

Borax slime is lots of fun.
Hose and sandpit never fails.

Good ideas, I will check back here when we are running low on ideas.

[BlackCat]

We have done bush walking. Swimming after lessons (then I only have to pay for me).
Bike riding.
Movie nights at home.
Camping in the lounge room.
Gardening (aka weeding).
Library trips - the activities there aren't free and book up as soon as the list is out tho so just visits.
Playdates at the park, pool, friends houses. Bring our own food and water.
Washing and pegging clothes etc, they love to help.

[Phteven]

Mainly the park.
Bush walking.
It's not free but the pool is heated and indoors and the boys will happily splash around for hours.
We have a large stash of paper and pencils.

I think a certain amount of boredom has value. If you're not entertained all the time it creates space for creativity.

[AnyDream]

Geocaching & book crossing

[~clover~]

First day of holidays here (WA) & I'm about to dress mine up & lock them out in the rain!
They've spent the morning trashing the lounge room, now that the dangerous winds have dropped, they're out!

[~Kim~]

Our local shopping centres often have kids crafty type stuff for free sessions in the school holidays.
We are having a fire and roasting marshmallows tonight, and yes I know you can't do that in other states, but we've used the element on a gas bbq at a pinch before.
lego challenges - I cut up a heap of simple ideas for them to put in a bucket and they pull one out at a time and have a crack
photo challenges/scavenger hunt

[danita]

Bunnings always has free things on too.
We are visiting the springs and doing lots of swimming at the free local water parks ( I'm in NT) we will go to the local parks and take soccer or cricket etc,
Also to the beach but just treasure hunt(crocs up here so no swimming) with the shells we collect we decorate cheap picture frames or cardboard boxes, get a head start on Christmas wrap aswell or cards for family interstate.
Cooking
Home made playdough with sticks, leaves, shells etc
Make a mobile with natural things
Draw with chalk on driveway
Teach the kids uno

[DreamBabies]

We have two toddlers. Last night we had a movie night. They chose Toy Story. We started at 5pm as they are always asleep by 7pm. My husband made popcorn and we had icecreams in a cone. We had our sleeping bags rolled out with our tots in the middle and hubby and I on either side. They were so giggly and silly. Absolutely beautiful memory.

[DreamBabies]

I am not sure if you have a Riot craft store near you. I picked up 5 craft packs for $5 last week. Whenever my tots need a little direction I get one out and we have some quiet time. The kits have everything in them including craft glue.

**** Smith have electronics kits that are pretty cool. They are mostly under $20 and they are suitable for school aged children.

Lego competitions - who can build the tallest free-standing tower in 10mins.